While all the talk surrounding captaincy in IPL 2022 has mostly been about MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya, Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant has impressed one and all with his leadership. Tipped as a future India captain, Pant the captain has had more hits than misses so far in his tenure as IPL captain. Since taking over from Shreyas Iyer last year, Pant led DC to the playoffs in IPL 2021 and this year, the franchise is placed 5th on the points-table. That most DC players, in some interview or the other, have lauded their captain is a testament to the right notes Pant is hitting.
Kuldeep Yadav even went to say that Pant guides him a lot like MS Dhoni used to when playing for India. Surely, there can’t be a bigger compliment than that. Similarly, DC’s Rovman Powell spoke about the support he received from Pant when he first had a couple of low-key outings for the franchise.
“I had a conversation with Rishabh. He came to my room after I failed in the first two games. He just reinforced the fact and said, ‘Listen, you’re a good player. Just relax. You will play more matches. These are just the first few games in the IPL. No matter how good a player you are, it takes time adjusting. It’s the best league in the world after all’. And I gradually realised it. I am kind of impacting the game for the Delhi Capitals and hopefully I can keep doing more to increase our chances of reaching the Playoffs,” Powell said on the Delhi Capitals podcast.
Powell, who bonds very well with Pant, opened up on the camaraderie he shares with his captain at DC.
“We message. We talk over the phone. Not necessarily cricket. But a lot of other things. He shares his story with me, I do mine. We have a lot of similarities in that regard. We come from poor by humble background and now we’re both using cricket as a driving force to take out family out of poverty. So we talk along that line. We bond over food. It’s good to have a captain, who, even when you lose games, remains calm,” added Powell.
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